Funders › Illinois

Ranch Spur Charitable Trust

Wayne, IL · EIN 26-6121636. Reported 157 grants totalling $3,244,204 to 54 recipients across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$10,000median grant
$3,244,204granted, 2021-2024
54recipients, as named on its returns
81%of grantees funded again the next year
$10.6Massets, latest filing

Does this foundation accept applications?

Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Ranch Spur Charitable Trust did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.

This is the foundation's own statement to the IRS, not our judgement, and it says nothing about whether they have a form, a deadline, or an appetite for new grantees. Treat it as the reason this foundation is worth your research time, not as an invitation. Many small foundations of this kind have no website and no application process -- a letter of inquiry is the normal first step.

How big are its grants?

The median grant is $10,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $5,000 and $25,000; the smallest was $250 and the largest $200,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
7 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
32 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
30 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
41 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
25 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
14 grants
$100,000 and Up
8 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Illinois Policy InstituteChicago, IL$312,500442024
Delta Waterfowl FoundationBismarck, ND$276,700442024
Boys and Girls Club of ChicagoChicago, IL$257,500442024
Garfield Heritage SocietyLafox, IL$240,180542024
Business Executives for National SecurityWashington, DC$200,000332024
Providence St Mel SchoolChicago, IL$180,000442024
The Conservation FoundationNaperville, IL$174,561442024
Next Generation Bulgaria FundBloomington, MN$150,000222024
Assist IncSuffield, CT$146,475442024
Boys and Girls Club of ElginElgin, IL$120,000442024
Northern Illinois Food BankCarol Stream, IL$117,500442024
Sofia American Schools IncNew York, NY$111,511212023
Max Mcgraw Wildlife FoundationDundee, IL$81,500442024
Girls Leading Our World AssociationVeliko Turnovo$59,500442024
The Morton ArboretumLisle, IL$57,500442024
Greater Chicago Food DepositoryChicago, IL$55,000332024
WTTW11 Public TelevisonChicago, IL$52,000442024
Island Academy IncSt Johns Antigua$50,000442024
National Christian Foundation Fund - #2931457Alpharetta, GA$50,000112022
Trust for Social AchievementSofia$50,000222022
Zaedno V ChasSofia$50,000222022
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan ChicagoChicago, IL$47,500442024
Shepherd Center IncAtlanta, GA$40,000442024
Wayne Historic Preservation SocietyWayne, IL$35,000442024
The Field MuseumChicago, IL$31,000442024
College of Veterinarian MedicineUrbana, IL$30,000332024
Tulip FoundationSofia$25,000112021
Alive Center NfpNaperville, IL$20,000442024
Better Government AssociationChicago, IL$20,000332024
Friends of Fisher House-Illinois IncAddison, IL$20,000442024
Northwestern Memorial FoundationChicago, IL$20,000442024
Philantropy RoundtableWashington, DC$20,000442024
Tunnel to TowersPhiladelpia, PA$19,750222024
Ducks UnlimitedMemphis, TN$16,000442024
Salute IncPalatine, IL$15,000332024
Ukraine Trust ChainEvanston, IL$12,027112024
Elgin AcademyElgin, IL$10,000112021
Sofia American Schools IncChestnut Hill, MA$10,000112024
Hillsdale CollegeHillsdale, MI$9,500442024
Forest Preserve District of Dupage CountyWheaton, IL$7,500222024
Bulgarian Child IncDallas, TX$6,000332024
Drake UniversityDes Moines, IA$6,000112024
Goldberg Charitable CorporationWellesley, MA$5,000112021
Streeterville Organization of Active ResidentsChicago, IL$4,000442024
The University of Iowa FoundationIowa City, IA$4,000442024
American University in BulgariaWashington, DC$3,500222024
University of Notre DameNotre Dame, IN$3,500222024
Harvard University Law SchoolCambridge, MA$2,500112022
Opportunity InternationalChicago, IL$2,500112024
Ridgeway Ministries IncDallas, TX$2,500112021
Elgin Math and Science AcademyElgin, IL$1,500222024
The Old Road Foundation IncSt Johns Antigua West Ind$1,250332024
Phi Delta Theta FoundationOxford, OH$750222024
Marine Corpss Toys for TotsDes Moines, IA$500112024

42 of 54 (78%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold.

Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 81%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 82 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.

International Affairs
16 grants
Education
11 grants
Environment
10 grants
Arts & Culture
9 grants
Youth Development
8 grants
Food & Nutrition
8 grants
Public & Societal Benefit
7 grants
Health Care
4 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202137$599,000$11,000
202236$609,500$11,250
202338$1,144,761$10,000
202446$890,943$5,500

Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.

Where its money goes

64% of its giving went to organizations in Illinois. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.

Illinois
$1.9M
North Dakota
$277K
District of Columbia
$224K
Minnesota
$150K
Connecticut
$146K
New York
$112K
Georgia
$90K
Pennsylvania
$20K

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Funders that support the same organizations

These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund23 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc23 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc20 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust18 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program16 shared recipientsAmerican Endowment Foundation16 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $10,000. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Illinois.
  3. Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
  4. Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.

Related guides

Foundations funding education in IllinoisEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Ranch Spur Charitable Trust's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.

Address of record on the latest return: Po Box 503, Wayne, IL, 60184. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.

EIN 26-6121636 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Foundation returns are published about a year after the tax year ends. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this foundation has actually funded.

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